Botswana divests from state telecommunications corporation in privatization campaign

Botswana has sold a minority stake in its telecoms firm in an initial public share offer, the first sale under its privatization campaign, a government agency said on Monday.

In a statement, the Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatization Agency said a total of 462 million shares were sold in the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTCL) for 1 Pula (US$0.0889) each, raising 462 million Pula (US$41 million).

The sale to BTCL workers and the public slashes the government stake in the business to 51 percent. BTCL will list on the Botswana Stock Exchange on April 8.

The 462 million shares that were on offer comprised 212 million shares sold by the government and 250 million new shares sold by BTCL.

The sale of a stake in BTCL comes under privatization plan dating back to 2012 which also envisages the eventual sale of shares in the National Development Bank.

Botswana has over 30 state-owned enterprises, most of them loss making, in industries ranging from agriculture, tourism, power and water utilities to airlines, housing and development finance.

Source: The Africa Report